This doesn't look too bad does it? This is the "Joule", it was unveiled at the motor show in Geneva just the other day and is South Africa's entry into the electric motorvehicle contest. I use the term contest because there were several other countries involved and apparently we featured very prominently. Personally I am underwhelmed.
I was reading an article in the "Bike SA" magazine recently, a magazine that I read every month thanks to my friend Linda who gave me a year's subscription for my birthday, about electric motorcycles. To be precise these were electric scramblers and the author wrote about an enduro race, apparently these bikes were super efficient, plenty of torque and if you rode them conservatively you could ride for about an hour before you had to recharge them. The author stated that the only sounds you heard were your own breath and the occasional sound of your tyres scuffing against tree roots, if you came across joggers on the paths you had to shout at them to get out of the way because they didn't hear you coming; "Hey you joggers, Fuck off!"
I "Googled" electric motorcycles and this is one of the results; 
WTF?! I mean come on, what is this crap?Isn't the whole point of what we do the fire breathing, carbon monoxide emitting, beautiful sounding internal combustion engine?
Won't we all (and when I say "we all" I mean all of us real bikers who have been grabbing a handful of power with our right hands for more years than we care to remember) give up when silent and slow electric machines replace our beloved petrol guzzlers? I hope that I will not be around to see that happen.
Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid but already scooters are selling by the thousands! I hate scooters!!! You see guys riding them with stupid little helmets on and with their knees pressed tightly together desperately trying to stay ahead of the mini bus taxis. They are just not fast enough, if you are going to ride on two wheels you must have enough speed and power to stay ahead of the other traffic so that you can stay out of trouble.......and have a bit of fun.
What do you think?
4 comments:
Hey boet I not trying to wind you up, but don't knock it till you've tried it. If it has 100% torque all the time it must be able to out perform most petrol engines. At least until the battery runs out. And what better way to scare the shit out of joggers that should'nt be on the road anyway.
Cheers
Dan
I suppose you're right there Dan, but what about the sound of the engine? I read that one of the manufacturers was thinking of incorporating a sound into the car and was looking for suggestions, like the sound of the ocean or something because they would be too dangerous if completely silent!
Right so at the press of a button your bike could sound like a Harley one day and a Scooter the next day. How would that go down at a rally?
cheers
Dan
One good use for electric bikes - you can do safaris and get close without scaring the wildlife. Saw Charlie Boorman do something like this in Australia, and even he was impressed with the bikes. Check out "By Any Means - Australia to Japan" - very enjoyable DVD.
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